White House Allegedly Threatens Private Groups Over Chrysler Bailout; Denies Charges
Via FoundingBloggers.com:
[via Instapundit] If what Tom Lauria says in the clip at this link is true, our government is officially a banana republic.
“One of my clients was directly threatened by the White House….that the full force of the White House press corps would destroy its reputation”
If only the Progressive-Socialist Democrats would be this cruel to our enemies. No, their intimidation is only reserved for American citizens.
The US administration threatening to destroy American citizens because they dare to disagree with the President’s demands? If that isn’t a high crime and misdemeanor, it should be.
And what makes the White House feel so confident that it can get the press to do whatever they…..oh yeah. Never mind.
We eagerly await the rationalizations from the Left as to why this is no big deal.
h/t Drudge Potato Al
UPDATE: Powerline agrees.
Also, via HotAirPundit:
Chilling Audio From WJR via Mark Levin Show:
Chicago style politics, makes it to the Whitehouse…
Tom Lauria “One of my clients was directly threatened by the Whitehouse”
“Full force of the Whitehouse Press Corp would destroy his reputation”From newsbusters
If the Bush White House had engaged in anything similar to what’s being described here, there would be calls for impeachment.
Maybe there should be similar talk now. As it is, the establishment media will more than likely work very hard to ignore this.
It should not be ignored. What attorney Tom Lauria describes is nothing short of chilling.Tom Lauria: “Let me tell you it’s no fund standing on this side of the fence opposing the President of the United States. In fact, let me just say, people have asked me who I represent, and that’s a moving target.
I can tell you for sure that I represent one less investor today than I represented yesterday.One of my clients was directly threatened by the White House, and in essence compelled to withdraw its opposition to the deal under threat that the full force of the White House press corps would destroy its reputation if it continued to fight. That’s how hard it is to stand on this side of the fence. [emphases original]
Here’s the bottom line:
Any individual or other entity who willingly takes on their share of a private enterprise and inherently risks their capital by engaging in such behavior has a contractual obligation for their particular stake, regardless of size, in said enterprise.
For the Executive branch of the federal government to allegedly threaten private individuals over their legitimate contractual obligations is nothing short of a usurpation of executive power and authority RE: the Constitution and would be nothing short of unethical, immoral, criminal, treasonous, and more than worthy of impeachment.
On the bright side, all it takes is for individuals to simply stand up to this President and demand that their individual rights be respected; clearly this is not only not too much to ask, but is quite the obviously legally enforceable stance to take.
I have said the following in many ways on my web site and I will continue to say it, going forward:
If we, the People, do not stand up to this Administration and this President, what is going on with Chrysler will most assuredly continue and repeat with any other company, industry and/or individuals at the arbitrary will of an unshackled Executive branch.
Again, if these allegations are true, this would make President Nixon’s Watergate look like child’s play.
Update: Jake Tapper from ABCNews reports that the White House is denying the charges:
A leading bankruptcy attorney representing hedge funds and money managers told ABC News Saturday that Steve Rattner, the leader of the Obama administration’s Auto Industry Task Force, threatened one of the firms, an investment bank, that if it continued to oppose the administration’s Chrysler bankruptcy plan, the White House would use the White House press corps to destroy its reputation.
The White House said the story was false.
“The charge is completely untrue,” said White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton, “and there’s obviously no evidence to suggest that this happened in any way.”
Thomas Lauria, Global Practice Head of the Financial Restructuring and Insolvency Group at White & Case, told ABC News that Rattner suggested to an official of the boutique investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners that officials of the Obama White House would embarrass the firm for opposing the Obama administration plan, which President Obama announced Thursday, and which requires creditors to accept roughly 29 cents on the dollar for an estimated $6.8 billion owed by Chrysler.
Lauria first told the story, without naming Rattner, to Frank Beckmann on Detroit’s WJR-AM radio.
Perella Weinberg Partners, Lauria said, “was directly threatened by the White House and in essence compelled to withdraw its opposition to the deal under the threat that the full force of the White House press corps would destroy its reputation if it continued to fight. That’s how hard it is to stand on this side of the fence.”
Perella Weinberg Partners, which owned Chrysler debt through its Xerion Fund, was one of Lauria’s clients in this bankruptcy, but no longer is. Before the Thursday deadline, Joseph Perella and Peter Weinberg tried to join the larger creditors — JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs — who are owed roughly 70% of Chrysler’s debt and had already agreed to participate with the administration’s plan.
All four financial institutions are recipients of up to $100 billion in federal government bailout funds, though the Obama administration insists the matters were kept completely separate. …
Lauria said the president’s assertion that his clients weren’t willing to make any sacrifice is false. The clients were willing to take 50 cents on the dollar from Chrysler for their debt, he said.
President Obama also said of Lauria’s clients, “I don’t stand with them. I stand with Chrysler’s employees and their families and communities. I stand with Chrysler’s management, its dealers, and its suppliers. I stand with the millions of Americans who own and want to buy Chrysler cars. I don’t stand with those who held out when everybody else is making sacrifices.” …
Lauria said the president saying he doesn’t stand with his clients “kind of sounds like ‘You’re fair game.’ In whatever sense. People are scared. They have gotten death treats. Some have been told people are going to come to their houses. God forbid if some nut did something, I’m just wondering how the president would feel.”
The Miami area-based attorney describes himself as an independent, and says after waiting in line for six hours last November he ended up not voting in the presidential election. He donated $10,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2008 and $1,000 to then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, in 2006.
-Phil
30 responses to White House Allegedly Threatens Private Groups Over Chrysler Bailout; Denies Charges
i have been saying it all along
we have a bully tyrant in the white house
– we need to be like christians in front of the lions and the whole roman empire right now. This person is truely evil:
1- baby killer
-2 denounces US as non christian nation revealing that he is the devil
-3 bows down to foreign kings, suadi
4- insults our allies
how much longer do we have to put up with this fake and fraud in the white house?
Obamahadinejihad: Capitalism ‘threatens life on the planet’
http://rabble.ca/news/2009/04/declaration-cuman%C3%A1-capitalism-threatens-life-planet
“We, the Heads of State and Government of OBolivia, Cubama, Dobaminica, Hobanduras, Nicaraguabama and Venezuelobama…
1. Capitalism is leading humanity and the planet to extinction…
2. Capitalism has caused the environmental crisis, by submitting the necessary conditions for life in the planet, to the predominance of market and profit…
3. The global economic crisis, climate change, the food crisis and the energy crisis are the result of the decay of capitalism, which threatens to end life and the planet…”
[...] [...]
Phil,
Well my dear fellow if one becries impeachment against this Caesar Nero in The Oval Office you can logically think The White House will pull out the real B. C. proving that Nero is not a natural born citizen therefore claiming that he cannot be impeached.
[It would seem that Lucifer has got everything well planned and tracks covered to keep his puppet in office.][If I was a demonic corrupt politician that is how I would do it.]
Pacem,
+Stonewall
People still don’t get it.
Hussein is a Communist just like Stalin, Lenin, Mao Pol Pot, Chavez, the Castro Brothers.
He is a tryrannical communist.
Welcome to Southside of Chicago Politics. Al Capone is about to get his face handed to him for real. Has 6 months occurred yet?
DICTATORSHIP’S RAW POWER. He knows that he has subborned the government to himself, in that they accept his illigitimate holding of the office, and now he expected to be treated as the usurping dictator that he is.
I agree with you Phil, American must stand up against this Enemy of the State…
The fascism is full-blown,and Barry’s Marxist minions are doing his bidding. The Black Idaho Constitution Party Chairman, Paul Venable, has just rejected Edgar Steele’s application for rank-and-file membership in the Idaho State chapter of the Constitution Party.Steele, a white man has spoken out against the double standrads of affirmative action for years.Now that Holder calls Americans a nation of cowards,and there’ll be no more construction jon\bs for whites,a greenlight was given to the politically correct crowd of all races to attack “whitey”.The race wars are a part of the coming chaos when the financial meltdown takes place.In a way,Holder is right.Most people are cowards and afraid to talk about racial matters.Now it is impossible to criticize the president because the man uses the race card,and the mainstream media follows like lemmings.
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How much more? How much more will it take for people to wake up to what’s going on?
There is politics. There is corruption. Then there is outright illegal activity. When the Constitution has been ignored, subverted, and trampled to get a ‘political agenda’ in place it is already bad. This is a destruction of rule of law and personal freedoms. In short, if this is true, we NO LONGER LIVE IN A DEMOCRACY AND FREE SOCIETY.
To all those who voted Party and POTUS before Country and Constitution, this is what your actions have brought. Try to remember for a few moments those that have given so you could grow up in a free society, and how you have betrayed those gifts.
The uneducated populace isn’t going to wake up…
United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas:
http://www.thehopeforamerica.com/play.php?id=897
“…the framers …understood that for liberty to exist the populace needed to be educated enough to understand liberty and to be able to defend liberty. They also understood that liberty was not on automatic pilot, that liberty would not exist simply because it was once started, and that having won it it was very delicate and had to be protected…”
Phil I see you bought into the Swine Flue hoax by posting those Swine Flu links.
Regular Flu Kills 36,000 Americans Every Year
http://www.theblogofrecord.com/tag/annual-flu-death-toll-per-year/
1 person, I has dies in America from Swine Flu and I am not sure that they were an American.
This whole Swine Flu hoax was created by the Hussein and his minions in order to have a practice run for mobilizing branches of the government and the media prior to him imposing martial law which he will while he is sitting illegally at POTUS.
=============================
It should be noted that Communists like Hussein Obama have slaughtered well over 100 million civilian people in the last 100 years. Hitler’s atrocities against the Jews was nothing compared to what men like Stalin, Lenin, Mao and Pol Pot did.
When Clinton was POTUS there were rumors and strong circumstantial evidence that he had had a number of people murdered that stood in his way while he was in politics and wasn’t even a Communist like Hussein is.
It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Hussein has people who stand in his way or threaten his power killed. In fact just the opposite is true.
A class action national lawsuit brought on by WE THE PEOPLE for complete and total violations of our constitutional rights, putting the american people in debt for their satisfaction, signing our names to this global debt without our authorization.
Continually terrorizing the american people with their tricks, for fly overs, pandemics, to name a few.
What United States President would do any of this to the citizens of this country? He is putting each one of us in a prison that we will never be able to escape from.
We need lawyers to bring a lawsuit against each and every one of his administration to include, Pelosi, Dodd, Frank, Reid, congress, and the supreme court justices.
Chicago style politics–do we need a watchdog for every politician? These thugs work for us, we don’t work for them and we pay them to treat us this way? The time for impeachment is NOW before this is totally out of control and there is no turning back.
Where are the GOP and why are they not standing up to these criminals?
What’s it going to take to throw them in prison and toss the key in the deepest part of the ocean.
I received this from a friend of mine who used to be in the military…..don’t know if it is true but please pass this forward and someone find out if the IMPOSTER is trying to take over the military as well as all the branches of our government…….this is very dangerous and something that can not be tolerated!!! Please read and forward ASAP!!!!
**********************************************************
If I were still in the Military, it would be a “COLD DAY IN HELL” before I would pledge an oath to the “SCUM BAG” impersonating the president!!
Subject: ACTION NEEDED for military tradition; and for the military among us; Hitler did this.
Military to Pledge Oath To Obama, Not Constitution …………
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is extremely frustrated with orders that the White House is contemplating. According to sources at the Pentagon, including all branches of the armed forces, the Obama Administration may break with a centuries-old tradition.
A spokesman for General James Cartwright, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, states that the Obama Administration wants to have soldiers and officers pledge a loyalty oath directly to the office of the President, and no longer to the Constitution. “The oath to the Constitution is as old as the document itself,” the spokesman said, “At no time in American history, not even in the Civil War, did the oath change or the subject of the oath differ. It has always been to the Constitution.”
The back-and-forth between the White House and the Defense Department was expected as President George W. Bush left office. President Obama has already signed orders to close Guantanamo and to pull combat troops from Iraq. But, this, say many at the Defense Department, goes too far. “Technically, we can’t talk about it before it becomes official policy,” the spokesman continued. “However, the Defense Department, including the Secretary, will not take this laying down. Expect a fight from the bureaucracy and the brass.”
Sources at the White House had a different point of view. In a circular distributed by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the rationale for the change was made more clear. “The President feels that the military has been too indoctrinated by the old harbingers of hate: nationalism, racism, and classism. By removing an oath to the American society, the soldiers are less likely to commit atrocities like those at Abu Ghraib.” “We expect a lot of flak over this,” the classified memo continues. “But those that would be most against it are those looking either for attention or control.”
The time frame for the changes are unknown. However, it is more likely that the changes will be made around the July 4th holiday, in order to dampen any potential backlash. The difference in the oath will actually only be slight. The main differences will be the new phrasing. It is expected that the oath to the Constitution will be entirely phased out within two years.
This should not be a shock to anyone following the usurper’s moves for any length of time. Creating a dictatorship is easy if you have the money to back it, the people of the nation dumb enough to listen, and the empty promises to execute it.
The question is not whether this “administration” is doing the usurping. The question is how does one “clean house” and do it with as minimal bloodshed as possible? It’s time for a history lesson. Just about every illegal leader of every country in the past 100 years has been forcibly removed through revolution or all-out war. This includes Hitler, Noriega, Hussein, Josef, Marcos, Musselini, Pol Pot, and others.
An excellent excerpt I found online was from Mike Vanderboegh. In an assessment of history he had published in The Hawaiian Rifleman in 1999 he states:
Phil Just a thought—-Will Obama have to recuse himself from picking Souter’s replacement because of all the many suits that are filed against him and may come up this yr.? Who would enforce this? arto
art o,
Extremely unlikely. Those of us who question this President’s past have several more steps to take before any kind of enforceability like what you suggest could happen.
-Phil
Jacqlyn Smith says:
May 3, 2009 at 5:24 pm
“oath to Obama”
It was a satirical piece written in January on the Jumping in Pools blog.
http://jumpinginpools.blogspot.com/2009/01/military-to-pledge-oath-to-obama-not.html
It drew so much attention they had to post a disclaimer on the top explaining: This is Satire!
Just to give you an idea how not serious they are, last Friday they had a piece reporting that Obama’s top pick for Souter’s replacment is Code Pink leader Medea Benjamin. By the way, a recent Ohio State media research study showed that conservatives didn’t understand that Stephen Colbert is satire either.
http://news.yahoo.com/topics/stephen-colbert
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earl says:
May 4, 2009 at 8:29 am
Jacqlyn Smith says:
May 3, 2009 at 5:24 pm
“oath to Obama”
It was a satirical piece written in January on the Jumping in Pools blog.
http://jumpinginpools.blogspot.com/2009/01/military-to-pledge-oath-to-obama-not.html
It drew so much attention they had to post a disclaimer on the top explaining: This is Satire!
Just to give you an idea how not serious they are, last Friday they had a piece reporting that Obama’s top pick for Souter’s replacment is Code Pink leader Medea Benjamin. By the way, a recent Ohio State media research study showed that conservatives didn’t understand that Stephen Colbert is satire either.
http://news.yahoo.com/topics/stephen-colbert
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Seems to me that the IMPOSTER’s pretense as POTUS is ONE BIG A$$ SATIRE!!! I wouldn’t put it past him to try something like this though…we PATRIOTS will be keeping our ears open!!!
Phil, did you really type that with a straight face?
Approximately 93 months.
I am a frequent lurker here, but today I have to comment:
If Obama thought the attorney would back off, he must be shocked today. The attorney has filed a motion against the administration, and UAW, for violating the constitution regarding bankruptcy law. The attorney also stated, that his clients have received death threats, and FBI, and police was notified about the threat towards the shareholders.
We’ll see what happens, I do think that obambi thought, everyone would cower, and bow down.
I found this report on Hot Air, and CNBC.
The only terrorist around is Barry…
His lies are abundant…….
He writes with his left hand because his right hand is counting his money.
His hatred is for himself first as everything is about him…mentally ill people like this usually end up causing a lot of horrible suffering.
Larry Kudlow has a source who was in the room when Lauria’s client was threatened. His source said Lauria’s description of the meeting was true. The press is trying to play this like it is an unconfirmed incident and they are not doing much to try to confirm it. Did you all see the video of the press standing up for Obama when he walked into the press room?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VAfJyzN3ak
As long as Obama has the press at his fingertips, he can get away with anything. If it is true that Lauria is continuing to fight – good for him and for his clients.
” Beware of the leader who beats the drums of war in order to whip the citizens into a patriotic frenzy, (for this frenzy)… is indeed a double-edge sword. It both emboldens the blood and narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils whith hate and the mind is closed… the citizens, struck by fear and blinded by (this frenzy)… will subordinate all their rights unto the leader, and even do it gladly… For this is what i have done. And I am Ceasar” by Julius Caesar, 100-44 B.C.
Yes obama is total evil and da very is right, but people like in the roman empire will do nothing but watch American being eaten after all millions are coming here to take our place and millions and millions who live here hate Americans and will help obama to eat us alive.
The only hope is for good people to take some part of this dead country and keep it free. the day is coming when evil will rule you and your kids and the system of third world evil will be in place and that evil will rule until time ends.
Phil,
From Hot Air:
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/05/04/senior-creditors-chrysler-deal-violates-5th-amendment/
Commentary:
I guess Soetoro is going to get a lashing for this.
JeffM,
Yeah, saw that. Wanted to make a Headliner out of that yesterday, will be doing it likely today.
-Phil
[...] allegations that the White House singularly threatened certain Chrysler creditors into taking a less than their current contractual deal regarding their investments in the company, HotAir.com has been reporting that certain non-TARP [...]